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Britain

Tracking Bill: Hillary rides along to Bill's party in Ireland

2023-04-19

Not so much with as happening to be in the same country at the same time. He is looking well — she, not so much. [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Bill Clinton delighted the locals of a city in Northern Ireland last night by surprising them with a visit to a local pub for a pint of Guinness. The charismatic former president was seen in the crowded Londonderry establishment raising his glass before taking a sip of the Black stuff. Clinton was there with Colum Eastwood, the leader of Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), who welcomed him to the city as the island of Ireland marks the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Lively photographs from the Tap House pub showed Eastwood's wife Rachael Eastwood enthusiastically embracing Clinton, to the delight of the 42nd president, who to this day remains a popular figure on both sides of the Irish border. With traditional local music playing the background and to the flashes of cameras, the raucous group cheered as they raised glasses of Guinness, before taking a sip. Emerging outside, Clinton was mobbed by more crowds of well wishers with whom he shook hands and posed for selfies. He took time to speak to several of those gathered there before getting into his waiting vehicle to leave. World leaders have flown in across the world to mark the occasion in Belfast. Clinton will be joined by ex-British prime minister Tony Blair, former Irish premier Bertie Ahern and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic. Irish premier Leo Varadkar and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will also address the conference on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton arrived at Limavady High School on Friday morning where she unveiled two benches to mark the new shared education campus with the adjacent St Mary's High School. Mrs Clinton met the head boy and head girl from both schools in Co Londonderry before visiting woodwork classrooms where she talked with pupils and viewed their projects.

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Europe

Spain's ETA Says Disarmament Call 'Constructive'

2013-07-16

[An Nahar] Armed Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. on Monday welcomed as "constructive" proposals by a group of international experts who had called for it to disarm and dismantle its military apparatus. ETA, blamed for more than 800 deaths in a four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for the independence of the Basque homeland which straddles northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France, announced a "definitive end" to its armed activity in October 2011. But it has not formally disarmed or disbanded as demanded by Madrid and Gay Paree, both of which refuse to enter into negotiations with the group, listed by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and United States as a terrorist entity. ETA has broken ceasefires in the past. "We believe that with the commitment of all, the proposal as a whole can constitute the departure point to decide on a road map," ETA said in a statement published by Basque daily Gara. Proposals by international experts in the so-called Social Forum -- an association of of civil associations and experts set up to spur on the Basque grinding of the peace processor -- issued on May 27, were a "constructive contribution", the group said. The ETA denounced Spain and La Belle France's refusals to enter into dialogue. In their report, the experts, including former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, said: "As an essential part of the grinding of the peace processor, we recommend designing a controlled, orderly and consensual process that culminates in the dismantling of weapons and military structures" of ETA. They also urged that the process be independently overseen.

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Europe

Irish voters likely to sink EU treaty, poll shows

2008-06-07

The European Union is bracing itself for a fresh bout of doom and gloom as the Irish look increasingly likely to reject the new Lisbon treaty, wrecking years of efforts to reshape the way the community is run. The latest opinion poll shows those intending to vote against the EU's reform treaty doubling in strength in recent weeks, soaring to a five-point lead over the Yes camp. A vote against the treaty would sink the ambitions of Berlin, Brussels and Paris to reshape the EU by giving it a sitting president, foreign minister, a diplomatic service, a new voting system and decision-making powers, and giving the commiseriat more power streamlining the European commission. After previous negative referendum results in Ireland, France, and the Netherlands over the past seven years, an Irish rejection would also be hailed - at least by Eurosceptics - as a massive vote of no confidence on the way the EU is run. Ireland's governing and main opposition parties, all strongly in favour of the treaty, were panicking yesterday, despite the news earlier in the week that Ireland's farmers would finally back the treaty. An Irish Times poll showed the treaty opponents have made meteoric gains, doubling from 17 to 35% in recent weeks, while the treaty's supporters slumped from 35 to 30%. With just five days to go before the only popular vote on the treaty in a union of 27 countries, the Yes camp faces an uphill struggle to reverse the momentum for ditching the treaty. "The referendum is heading for defeat," said an editorial in the pro-EU Irish Times. "There is a dramatic shift in public opinion towards a No vote ... The government and its allies may find it impossible to turn the tide. The Lisbon treaty may not be passed." Treaty opponents believe loopholes will mean Ireland loses control in areas such as tax, trade, abortion and military neutrality. Pro-treaty parties have accused them of scaremongering. Has a certain ring to it, 'scaremongering' and the accusation thereof, something we're becoming more familiar with on our side of the pond ... As an amending treaty, augmenting and revising previous European treaties, the document is an indigestible compendium of articles, legalisms, and protocols. It matters. But it is not an easy read. This factor is contributing hugely to the No campaign's success in turning the Irish against the new dispensation. Analysis of Friday's poll results showed that confusion was the key to turning voters against the treaty. Many voters said they were voting no because they could not understand the treaty. As an example, the US constitution is six articles and barely a dozen pages in modern type. The Lisbon treaty, masterminded last year by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and signed by EU leaders in December, is the response to the failed attempt to craft a constitution for Europe, a campaign wrecked by French and Dutch No votes in 2005. The new treaty retains most of the institutional innovations mooted in the draft constitution, but is stripped of the symbolism of constitutionality. In Brussels, Irish officials are worried the vote will be lost. Dick Roche, the Europe minister, has warned friends his government is in trouble. "He felt it could go badly. He's worried about losing," said a source who spoke to Roche this week. The referendum campaign contributed to the resignation of the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, last month. A No vote could bring down his replacement, Brian Cowen, who said on Friday that he would take responsibility for the result. Ireland, uniquely in the European Union, is constitutionally bound to stage referendums on EU treaties, meaning that less than 1% of the EU's population of more than 450 million has the power to determine the fate of European treaties. Sorta like the Iowa caucuses ...

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Britain

Checkpoints return to Ulster amid bomb fears

2008-02-07

Threats from dissident republicans have forced police in Northern Ireland to deploy vehicle checkpoints to prevent a new terrorist bombing campaign and put an end to hopes of a historic British royal visit to the Irish Republic this year. Sir Hugh Orde, the Police Service of Northern Ireland's chief constable, warned yesterday that groups such as the Real IRA would target England if they could. His warning came within hours of a PSNI statement confirming that its officers had set up a number of vehicle checkpoints on routes from the republic into Northern Ireland. Vehicles were stopped and searched yesterday along a number of main routes, including the main Dublin to Belfast road at Loughbrickland. Speaking at Stormont yesterday, Orde said groups such as the Real IRA intended to cause "much damage" to the peace process. Although the chief constable said that at present he believed the Real IRA and other dissident factions did not have the capability to strike in England, they intended to do so. "They want to destroy what has been achieved in Northern Ireland," he said. The Real IRA, which was blamed for the 1998 Omagh bomb massacre, has been re-organising over the last 12 months. Late last year it shot and wounded two PSNI officers in Dungannon and Derry. The re-emergence is also causing concern in the republic, where Irish security officials say they have advised Bertie Ahern's government that a visit by the Queen this year could provide a rallying point for violent dissident republican protests.

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Europe

Ahern triumphant in Irish elections

2007-05-27

RB doesn't generally cover Irish politix, but earlier reports I read said that Sinn Fein had been making gains in some polls, which I would generally consider A Bad Thing. I'd be glad if any Euroburg readers can comment... Bertie Ahern last night emerged as Ireland's undisputed political king as his Fianna Fail party cruised to a third term in government in the country's general election. On a day of high political drama, Fianna Fail confounded its critics with a sensational electoral performance that opened up the possibility that it could form a single-party government. Enda Kenny's opposition Fine Gael party also made considerable gains but it was a bad election for the smaller political parties. Sinn Fein, in particular, failed to make the breakthroughs it expected in constituencies in Dublin and Donegal. And Deputy Prime Minister Michael McDowell quit politics after losing his seat as his Progressive Democrats party lost a number of high-profile candidates. With many seats still to be decided, Fianna Fail strategists were not ruling out the possibility that they would have to enter into a coalition again. With the party chasing the magic 83-seat figure for an overall majority, the Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said: "We potentially will be around the 80-seat mark. "That might mean we won't have to look at coalition options." He also confirmed Fianna Fail received congratulations on their success from an unlikely source last night - Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists. He received a message from the DUP leader's son, Ian Paisley jnr, a junior minister in the new Stormont Executive. "He congratulated me and the party," Mr Ahern said. "He said maybe the DUP could take a few lessons on vote management from the Fianna Fail election machine."

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Britain

Sinn Feinn Official-Turned Spy Found Dead

2006-04-04

A former senior official of Sinn Fein recently exposed as a British spy was found fatally shot in northwest Ireland, police said Tuesday. Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's anti-terrorist police for the previous two decades. He then went into hiding because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death. Sure and the boys are very big on tradition in Ireland. But Ireland's national police said it was not clear whether Donaldson, 55, had been killed or committed suicide. In a statement, the force said the scene around his body in Glenties, County Donegal, was cordoned off for a forensic examination planned for Wednesday. CSI - Donegal is on the case Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern condemned what he called the "brutal murder" of Donaldson. The IRA said it was not involved in the death. Yeah, right. You're just a peaceful, albeit heavily armed, social club A Roman Catholic-Protestant power-sharing administration for Northern Ireland — the central goal of the British province's 1998 peace accord — fell apart in October 2002 because of an IRA spying scandal with Donaldson at its heart. Donaldson, his nephew and a British civil servant all were charged with pilfering documents from inside the power-sharing government that identified potential targets of the outlawed IRA and detailed political opponents' private conversations. Protestants at the time accused the IRA of plotting a potential resumption of its violent campaign to oust Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom. But British prosecutors mysteriously dropped all charges against the trio in early December. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams initially defended Donaldson and the others — but a week later announced that Donaldson had confessed, under questioning by Sinn Fein officials, to being a paid British spy. Within hours, Donaldson admitted this was so in an interview with RTE, the Irish state broadcasters. The IRA last year declared it was renouncing violence for political purposes and backed the pledge by handing over its weapons stockpiles to disarmament chiefs. Both moves were supposed to spur a revival of power-sharing involving Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that represents most Catholics in Northern Ireland. But Protestant leaders have refused to cooperate with Sinn Fein, citing the IRA's refusal to disband and its alleged involvement in a range of criminal activities. If police determine that Donaldson was killed, it would be certain to fuel the hostility of the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists, to cooperating with Sinn Fein. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ahern are expected Thursday to announce a new blueprint for reviving power-sharing. That blueprint looks a lot like a certain roadmap we all know The joint governments' proposals, which have been 3 1/2 years of diplomacy in the making, recommend that Northern Ireland's legislature reconvene in May and face a Nov. 24 deadline to elect an administration jointly led by the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein.

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Europe

Adams finds US snub is a bitter pill to swallow

2006-03-19

It has proved to be a very expensive St Patrick’s Day for Gerry Adams. A ban on fund-raising, imposed as a visa condition for his trip to the US, has forced Sinn Fein to repay $100,000 (£57,000) in ticket sales for a gala breakfast he attended in Washington. The Sinn Fein president is clearly bitter about what he described as a “partisan” decision by President Bush’s Administration which, he said, took no account of the IRA’s renunciation of armed struggle and the progress made on decommissioning. “I don’t understand why I’m allowed to go to London for fundraising but not come here,” he told The Times at a subsequent event for the American Ireland Fund. Maybe because we don't quite believe you? The US, where up to 45 million people claim Irish descent, has always been regarded as the (Irish) Republicans’ cash cow and for more than a decade Mr Adams had enjoyed being fêted on his high-profile annual trip to the White House. But last year he was removed from the invitation list for the President’s shamrock ceremony because Mr Bush was angry over the IRA’s involvement in the Northern Bank robbery and the continued paramilitary violence that led to the murder of Robert McCartney. This year, the Sinn Fein leader was allowed back into the White House. But he was not asked to a private, more intimate, meeting with Mr Bush. Instead, the President once again chose to spend time with Mr McCartney’s sister, Catherine, and other victims of IRA violence. These included Esther Rafferty whose brother, Joseph, was allegedly murdered last April, and Alan McBride, whose wife was killed in the Shankill bombings a decade ago. Bush has a tendency to keep accounts. If he makes a move like this it seldom is for transient show ... Mr Adams sought to make light of the $100,000 bill for his trip and the frosty reception he had received from the President. “At least I got a free breakfast,” he said. “Look here, Washington comes and Washington goes — but the Irish-Americans have remained constant and they have kept their faith in us.” A woman in my neighborhood has a '26 + 6 = 1' bumper sticker. I'm hoping she's not as gullible as she once was. But the income that Sinn Fein receives from the Irish-American lobby has fallen to less than $1 million a year. Donations to the respectable and charitable American Ireland Fund dropped by more than a quarter in 2004. I'm sure 'unofficial donations' are still high. Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary who also travelled to Washington for St Patrick’s Day, believes that the mood — even on “green emotion” days such as this — shifted irrevocably because of the September 11, 2001, attacks. “What has changed is terror and that has changed minds, he said. “Sinn Fein had been treated as heroes on Capitol Hill for years with republicanism intertwined is some minds with the American War of Independence.” Although he did not want to be drawn into the row over Mr Adams’s right to raise money in the US, he suggested that last year’s St Patrick’s Day snub for Sinn Fein had a profound effect. Mr Hain has held talks with Mr Bush, as well as Mitchell Reiss, the President’s special envoy on Northern Ireland, and Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, over plans due to be unveiled next month for restoring powers to the devolved Stormont Assembly, which was suspended in 2002. Ian Paisley’s Democratic Ulster Unionists still want to delay, he said, while the nationalists “want to jump back in; we need to find a bridge between them”. A proposal for phased reintroduction appears most likely. “We’re now entering the most important period since the Good Friday agreement in terms of people having to make their minds up,” he said. But Mr Hain also emphasised that the US remained a central component in the peace process. rest at the link

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Science & Technology

Bat Inspires Space Tech For Airport Security

2005-10-17

Metal detectors currently used for screening aircraft passengers could soon be supplanted by novel millimetre-wave cameras, able to detect even non-metallic concealed objects. The new system, named after a Brazilian bat, is based on technology developed for ESA spacecraft. Tadar is being demonstrated at this week's Inter Airport Europe Exhibition in Munich. Conventional metal detectors, such as those used to check passengers at airports, are limited in that they can only detect metal objects. Other security technologies such as the X-ray imaging used to screen luggage, are unsuitable for checking people because of their use of ionizing radiation. An Irish company has now come up with a new security imaging system that can 'see' all objects, not just metallic items, by the use of only safe natural energy. Named Tadar, after the Brazilian Tadarida bat, it uses millimetre-waves to detect and identify suspicious objects hidden under clothing or to see through cloud and fog, in the same way that the bat uses high-frequency signals to navigate and locate insect prey in the dark. The high-frequency energy pulses emitted by the bat bounce off objects in its path and the reflected signals are interpreted by different types of sensory cell in the bat's brain to determine both the location and physical properties of these objects. "This new system is based on advanced microwave technology that Farran, now part of the Smith Group, has developed for space systems," explains Tony McEnroe, Managing Director of Farran Technology. "We developed the knowledge and skills while designing and packaging millimetre-wave devices for ESA projects. By integrating a novel scanning technology we have achieved a unique system for detecting and imaging items for security applications." Tadar's sensors detect energy naturally emitted or reflected from objects, by using approximately 3-mm wavelengths that are completely harmless to people. At this wavelength clothes become transparent but dense objects such as explosives and weapons hidden under clothing block the body's natural radiation and reflect a clear profile of the blocked energy field. Door keys, money, pocket knives and other objects that we normally carry in our pockets will stand out clearly. Even weapons produced in non-metallic materials and plastic explosives which conventional metal detectors cannot 'see', will clearly be identified, as well as liquid substances. Each type of material has its own frequency response and will produce its own representative 'colour' image, almost like a fingerprint. High-frequency space components for new security system Founded in 1977, Farran Technology has been supplying ESA for years with high-frequency microwave components and subsystems. Since 1998, the improved materials used for integrated circuits have permitted the production of integrated circuit devices able to operate within the millimetre-wave spectrum - the 30-300 GHz range of the frequency spectrum - used for a broad range of applications from advanced astronomy to broadband radio communications. This advance enabled Farran to develop an in-house capability in the design and development of high-frequency circuits. Working together with the National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) in Ireland and Fraunhoffer Institute in Germany, Farran led an ESA project in developing Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC) technology for operating in the 100 GHz band. This area of the spectrum is very useful for inter-satellite communications due to its high signal bandwidth and low data loss. The first prototype devices have been successfully built and tested and will be delivered to ESA later this year. It is this very special expertise that Farran has used to develop their new Tadar camera. Tadar in action – from up to 50 metres away When someone stands in front of the Tadar camera they are scanned fully-clothed to measure their body's natural radiation against a temperature controlled background panel. The presence of any dense object will block the body's natural energy and the Tadar camera will detect the background temperature that is reflected off the object. The resultant thermal contrast presents a clear image of the suspect object. "The Tadar millimetre-wave imaging system employs patented mechanical scanning technology with state-of-the-art millimetre MMIC front-end circuits, resulting in high performance and low costs," McEnroe adds. "This novel scanning technology can refresh the image ten times per second, allowing a 'walk by' screening operation that takes no longer than conventional metal detectors." "The system can work in passive and active mode, without any change in its mechanical or optical configuration. In passive mode the person to be screened must stand in front of the system, while in active mode the system can produce three-dimensional images of a scene, even at a distance of over 50 metres," emphasises McEnroe. "The primary applications for our Tadar system are security screening of people in airports and buildings where conventional metal detectors are used today. In future, the same technology could also be used to improve on existing infrared-based enhanced vision systems that enable pilots to see through clouds, as well as identify foreign objects on airport runways." ESA's industrial delegate with Enterprise Ireland, Tony McDonald, says: "We are encouraging Irish companies such as Farran Technology, which have developed skills through working on ESA Space programmes, to exploit them commercially." The ESA Technology Transfer Programme (TTP) in Ireland was launched in February 2003 by Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern. More than 100 Irish companies participated at the launch event in Galway. Pierre Brisson, Head of ESA's Technology Transfer and Promotion Office, says, "This important advancement in security systems that has been developed in Ireland, illustrating the potential of our space technologies developed by European companies." Tadar on display The Tadar system was unveiled this week by Smiths Detection at the Inter Airport Europe Exhibition in Munich Airport. The exhibition is open until 14 October. Later this month it will be demonstrated at the IATA AVSEC World 2005 exhibition on aviation security taking place 25-27 October at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Britain

IRA Gives Up Weapons, Pigs Seen Flying

2005-09-26

Can I get me a... unlikely license here? Irish Republican Army gives up entire arsenal, disarmament commission says By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press Writer | September 26, 2005 BELFAST, Northern Ireland --The Irish Republican Army has given up its entire arsenal of weapons, demonstrating that its 35-year campaign to overthrow Northern Ireland by force is really over, the Canadian general who supervised the tortuous process said Monday. "We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal," said John de Chastelain, a retired Canadian general who since 1997 has led efforts to disarm the outlawed IRA. The material included ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns and baby carriages explosives, and all were rendered "permanently inaccessible or permanently unusable," de Chastelain told a news conference. The IRA followed up the announcement with a brief statement of its own that concluded: "The IRA leadership can now confirm that the process of putting our arms verifiably beyond use has been completed." Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which has resisted dealing with the IRA's political allies, was not persuaded. While he accepted that the IRA had disposed of some weapons, Paisley said the process was not transparent and gave no assurance that all the weapons were gone. Trust, but verify... "You can't build the bridge of trust with the scaffolding of lies and underhand deals," Paisley told a news conference. He accused of the British and Irish governments of "duplicity and dishonesty" in accepting the IRA's assurances. "I think once they make sure there are no firecrackers left in Belfast, he might be satisfied," U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who co-chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs in Congress, said in Springfield, Mass. "But his political party, particularly those who are 25 or 30 years younger, see this as the way forward. And my hunch is that the Rev. Paisley, perhaps by December or January, will see this as the way forward as well." The IRA permitted two independent witnesses -- a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams -- to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland and the United States. "Successive British governments have sought final and complete decommissioning by the IRA for over 10 years," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "Failure to deliver it had become a major impediment to moving forward the peace process. Today it is finally accomplished. And we have made an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland." Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he accepted the word of de Chastelain and his colleagues. "These are men of integrity. Their words are clear, and they are welcome." Earlier in the day, De Chastelain gave representatives of the British and Irish governments a confidential report on his work. He said the decommissioning was completed Saturday and that he had checked and counted all the weapons involved. Rest of story at link...

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Europe

Ireland unlikely to deport men to Colombia

2005-08-08

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Three Irish Republican Army-linked men who have resurfaced in Ireland after fleeing convictions for training rebels in Colombia are unlikely to face extradition back to the South American nation, Irish officials and experts said Monday. Breaking his silence on the matter, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he expected the three -- Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan -- to be shipped back to serve their 17-year prison terms imposed eight months ago. Uribe said Colombia "cannot close its eyes to this." But legal authorities say Ireland's lack of an extradition treaty with Colombia, combined with international concerns about poor human rights standards and prison security there, should prove too high a barrier to clear. They agree that a local, minor prosecution for the men's passport violations -- they traveled abroad using forged passports and evidently sneaked back into Ireland without passing through immigration and customs checks -- appears more likely. "It is the case that this country does not have an extradition treaty with Colombia," Prime Minister Bertie Ahern wrote in Monday's edition of The Irish Times. "If we receive a request for assistance from the Colombian government, it will be considered in accordance with our legal obligations. That will be subject to scrutiny in the courts, as is right and proper in a democracy." Remy Farrell, a Dublin lawyer who is an expert in extradition law, said Ahern's government faced a daunting series of legal hurdles, making the possibility of an extradition years from now "at best slight." "So long as there is no bilateral extradition treaty between Ireland and Colombia, there can be no extradition," Farrell said. "This then begs the question as to whether the (Irish) government would enter into such an agreement." The biggest obstacle to establishing a treaty, Farrell said, was Colombia's human rights record, which he noted has been criticized by the United Nations. The risk that the men could be killed in prison could also be cited as a reason to refuse extradition, he said. The three men, using false identities, were arrested in August 2001 while trying to leave Colombia after spending five weeks in jungles controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the major rebel group trying to topple the country's U.S.-backed government. British anti-terrorist police have identified Monaghan as the IRA's senior weapons engineer and McCauley as one of his deputies. Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party, initially denied any knowledge of Connolly, but two months after the arrest announced he was Sinn Fein's Cuba-based representative for Latin America, a previously unknown post. The men at various times have claimed either to have been nature-lovers on vacation or researchers into Colombia's peace process. State prosecutors accused the trio of training the FARC rebels how to make IRA-style car bombs and heavy mortars. The rural-based FARC has begun using such weaponry in cities, most prominently in August 2002, when a mortar barrage during Uribe's inauguration killed 27 civilians outside the presidential palace. The three were initially acquitted of training rebels in June 2004, but the judge ordered them to remain in Colombia pending the government's appeal. The appellate court in December ruled 2-1 to convict the men on all charges -- but police couldn't find them. Uribe downplayed the lack of an extradition treaty. "Extradition these days is something I consider only natural in international relations," Uribe told a Bogota broadcaster, Radio Melodia. "It should be applied whether or not there is a treaty because in a world so globalized, countries should not hold back from carrying out extraditions." Earlier, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos said the government's own legal officers hadn't drafted any formal extradition request yet. "The least we expect from the Irish government is they either pay their sentence in Irish jails or that they be extradited," Santos told RTE radio. "How? We do not know exactly at this precise moment."

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Britain

I.R.A Calls offical ceasefire

2005-07-28

THE Irish Republican Army formally ended more than 30 years of armed struggle in Northern Ireland overnight, pledging to lay down its weapons and fight British rule through purely peaceful means. The British, Irish and US governments welcomed the statement as "historic" provided the Roman Catholic paramilitary group matched its words with deeds, but the head of the province's main Protestant party was more sceptical. The IRA's order to abandon their armed campaign to unite Northern Ireland, which is mostly Protestant, with the Irish Republic came into effect at 4pm local time (0100 AEST). Supporters say the move, which comes against the backdrop of worldwide revulsion over terrorism, is designed to revive the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement and the power-sharing institutions that have been suspended. "All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms," the group said, adding its militants "have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means". It said that militants "must not engage in any other activities whatsoever" and described the order as compulsory. But the statement stopped short of disbanding the organisation, as demanded by leading Protestants, and it also omitted any apology for past bombings. "Our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland," the group said. "We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country." Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern released separate and joint statements welcoming the breakthrough. "If the IRA's words are borne out by actions, it will be a momentous and historic development," the two men said in a joint statement. "This may be the day when finally after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaces war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," added Blair in a separate comment. "This is a step of unparallelled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland." In Washington, US President George W Bush's chief spokesman Scott McClellan called the announcement "an important and potentially historic statement". But Ian Paisley, the fiery leader of Northern Ireland's main Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), was far more cautious, noting that the IRA statement lacked an explicit call to end criminal activity. "They have failed to provide the level of transparency that will be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns have gone in their entirety," he said, insisting it would delay the whole process. A comprehensive agreement to reinstate power-sharing between Protestants and Catholics stalled in December after the DUP demanded that disarmament of the paramilitary IRA be documented in photographs. Today's announcement comes after the IRA suffered major blows to its credibility in recent months, over its alleged involvement in a massive bank heist in Belfast and the murder of an Irish Catholic man earlier this year. In April, Gerry Adams, the leader of the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein, made a direct appeal to the paramilitary group to embrace purely political and democratic activity. The IRA has held secret consultations with its membership over the future of the movement for months. Calling the IRA decision "courageous", Adams said it "can help revive the peace process" and challenged the Protestant community to respond. In an immediate response to the statement, the international commission charged with monitoring disarmament said it had resumed contact with the IRA after having suspended contacts over the bank heist. Martin McGuinness, the chief negotiator for Sinn Fein, is in Washington to brief those concerned in the US Congress and in New York about developments. On Tuesday Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Adams, McGuinness and convicted gun runner Martin Ferris - now a member of the Irish parliament - had left the ruling "military council" of the IRA. The Sinn Fein trio have previously denied that they were on the ruling body of the underground military organisation, which is responsible for dozens of bombings around Britain over the decades. The IRA declared a ceasefire before the 1998 Good Friday peace deal that largely ended the violence and paved the way for a Protestant-Catholic power-sharing assembly in Belfast. But that deal was suspended almost three years ago amid allegations of IRA espionage. Even if the IRA lays downs its arms for good, Northern Ireland could still be bogged down by bickering between Catholic and Protestant parties.

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Britain

Ireland may be a base for London cell

2005-07-12

EXTREMISTS living in Ireland may be plotting atrocities across Europe, the country's justice minister Michael McDowell said yesterday. Mr McDowell said members of radical terrorist groups may be basing themselves in Ireland in order to avail of the "common travel area" between the state and the UK. "In the past there has been evidence that some people in Ireland, who have an extremist point of view, have been engaging in logistical support activities for terrorist-type activities in Europe and elsewhere. That is a worrying thing," the justice minister said. "Faith, and 'tis incumbent upon good IRA men to provide logistical support to our Moose limb brothers!" "It wouldn't be beyond the bounds of possibility that terrorists would exploit the common travel area in order to perpetrate acts of terrorism in Britain. So it is a matter of very major significance to the Irish state that there should be the fullest possible co-operation between the two jurisdictions in respect of this kind of activity and the fullest possible sharing of intelligence." "We have enough trouble with IRA gunnies beating people to death. We don't need no damned turbans to add to the problem!" Bertie Ahern, the Irish premier, last week revealed that police were monitoring al-Qaeda sympathisers in Ireland as part of a massive international security operation. "Pat, that boyo with the green turban has a suspicious look about him!" "Yer right, Mike! We'd best monitor him!" But, in the aftermath of the London bombings, Mr Ahern said he did not believe Ireland was under serious threat of attack. "No, no! Certainly not! Why would they boom us?" Mr McDowell yesterday confirmed the movements and activities of several individuals throughout the state were being closely monitored. "We are talking about a number of people who are under surveillance and whose activities are the subject of interest by the intelligence services of this island state," Mr McDowell told RTE radio. "I have been in the closest possible contact with UK and US intelligence services in relation to this. There is a sharing of information and close co-operation."

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